06/19/2026
Daisy has been absolutely amazing! So, we have done some studying in genetics, and we have learned some things through our vet, other dairy, farmers, and our longtime friend who is an AI tech out of Ovid. Daisy, somewhere in her hidden past, has an ancestry with Holstein genetics. It’s something that commercial dairy farmers would do back in the day, and it makes good sense. The Holsteins had good production, but had less issues with metabolic struggles, like milk fever, ketosis, or even mastitis. They’re just built tough. However, they do need a lot of input in grain, and they do tend to always look on the skinnier side. The Holsteins were also lacking in the milk components that jerseys were so popular for. So, makes good business sense to cross breed and develop a jersey line that has the best of both worlds. Daisy is an excellent example of a pure bred jersey that does have the cross way, way back in her lineage, and is still benefitting from that cross today. Her genetics would naturally show as purebred jersey, but it’s still with the benefit of a cross from a Holstein that makes her the powerhouse jersey that she is. Serenity has the same genetic look in her features. Her face shape has more of a Holstein appearance, as does her body structure, but her genetics are purebred jersey. Her tiny udder has an excellent appearance, and she truly is a beautiful jersey, but she is not Jersey from Old World genetics. There is a difference. Old World Jersey genetics have a very different appearance, and those that have the high production genetics, also suffer from milk fever, ketosis, and other metabolic issues. There we have Minnie. So, the cross makes sense in a business mind of doing dairy. I agree with this cross of Holstein and Jersey. It’s not the direction I’m working towards for my farm, but I love and appreciate this cross, and I’ll always praise Daisy for her genetics, but I’ll never recommend Daisy or others like her to a small family farm that wants to do grass only, calf sharing, milking once a day or less, and expect a healthy cow. This powerhouse gal needs 30 # of grain input per day during her peak production, and I milk her twice a day without fail for 6-7 months. Calf is on her 24/7 for 2-4 weeks, and then separated. This gives baby the smaller, more frequent feedings that she needs, helps regulate momma’s hormones, and allows momma to teach baby how to be a cow. From 4 weeks on, we take over with a bottle twice a day for the next 8-12 weeks.
So, what’s in store for Daisy next? Well, she did amazing with this fairly large calf at about 60 pounds (her largest one, yet), so I’m actually not totally sure. I was originally planning to let our bull take over and breed her earlier so that she can have her next calf earlier than the heat of June (ideally, we are working to have all of our girls calve right about the same time in March and April), but I’m also eager to see what she would do with another jersey heifer from either Dutch genetics or New Zealand. We will see!
